The Little Things
by Ruyax
Summary: Sometimes, it's the little things that make the best relationship.    Written as pointless, plotless KibaHina fluff from a list of 16 random prompts.  Funny, sweet, stupid, it's all here.  Intended as actual pairing but can be considered friendship as wel
1. Puppy Dog Eyes

**Finally! After three seasons MIA from Fanfiction, I have returned! This is the first of a series of pointless, purposeless KibaHina fluffiness. I apologize for the pointlessness, but I wanted to write KibaHina and these were all I could come up with. **

**I made a list of 16 random prompts and wrote a short oneshot for each one. They are completely unrelated to each other and though I intended it as a pairing, most can be considered just friendship, if you prefer. **

**First prompt: Puppy Dog Eyes**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto  
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Puppy Dog Eyes

"All right. We're done." Kurenai sheathed her kunai and regarded her team with a small smile. "Good job."

"Finally!" Kiba shouted, still full of energy even after a rigorous training session. Then his stomach growled. He made a face as Hinata giggled. "L-let's get lunch to-together," she said. Shino nodded agreement, and Akamaru barked happily.

"Well, then, let's go!" Kiba said, and took off without waiting for his teammates. As Akamaru ran after him, Hinata sighed. She knew Kiba. He would burn out in about two minutes and be waiting for them up the trail, complaining about how hungry he was and how slow they were.

She was right. She and Shino came over a small hill to see Kiba and Akamaru standing at the bottom, Kiba yelling at them to hurry up or he'd starve to death. Hinata hid a smile and increased her pace a little.

...

They chose a table that was outside, partially because the owner wouldn't allow Akamaru inside even if he was a ninken and not just some pet, but also because of the good weather. There had been so much rain lately, and before that it had been terribly hot, so they were lucky to have good weather at last.

They were reading over the menus, choosing their lunch, when suddenly Kiba sat up and smacked his forehead. "Shit!" he exclaimed, startling all three of his companions. "I don't have any money!"

Hinata blinked. "Why?"

"'Cause I forgot it! I didn't know we'd be having lunch!" Kiba's stomach growled loudly. Akamaru whined. He was hungry too.

"Hey, Shino…" The bug-user looked up. "What."

Kiba scratched the back of his head. "Um… can you lend me some money for lunch?"

Shino dropped his head back down to look at the menu. "No."

"What?" Kiba shouted. Glancing around, Hinata wished Kiba would be just a little quieter. People were looking at them. "Come on, Shino. Please?" That was a surprise. Kiba hardly ever said please. But Shino would not budge. "No."

Kiba knew when he had lost a battle. You could read it in his body language, the way his shoulders slumped slightly, the way the energy seemed to drain out of him just a little. Hinata was sure that if Kiba had had a tail, he would have dropped it completely. Kiba wasn't really one to hide his thoughts and feelings, and after knowing him for so long, Hinata could read him like a book.

Then Kiba turned to her. "Hinata?" he asked a little too sweetly.

Hinata jumped a little. "W-what is it, Kiba?" But she already knew what was coming.

…

"Please, Hina-chan? I'll pay you back tomorrow!" Hinata knew it wouldn't be tomorrow. Kiba never got anything done on time. But she knew she would get her money back eventually. He always kept his promises.

Still, she tried to resist.

.

And failed. Fifteen minutes later, all four were enjoying their lunch. Hinata suppressed a sigh as she tucked her wallet back in her pocket, a good bit lighter than it had been a while ago.

She glanced over at Kiba, who was happily tearing into the first of his three sandwiches. Akamaru lay under the table, wagging his tail and making happy-puppy noises as he chewed on a large piece of meat.

_Oh well,_ she thought as she picked up her chopsticks and dug into her noodles. _It's not like this is the first time I've paid for Kiba's food. And Akamaru's. _

How could she help it? Kiba was a champion when it came to making puppy dog eyes.

**So…**

**Did you like it? Is it even worth continuing? Please review! **

**Also, I probably won't be able to post the next bit until after November, 'cause I'm doing NaNoWriMo! (National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know). **

**See you in December!**

**- Ruyax**


	2. Shampoo

**Took me long enough, but here's the second – well, it's not really a chapter, since they're all unrelated, but whatever. I present to you the second bit of The Little Things! I said I would get this up in December, and it's still December… right? **

**I forgot this in the first one, but I also have a short one-liner/summary about the prompt, and I'll be putting those up as well from now on. **

**(For Puppy Dog Eyes, it was "Kiba gets Hinata to buy him food". Just in case you were wondering.)**

**Anyway.**

**Second prompt: Shampoo**

**Hinata smells good**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Shampoo

It was a nice, sunny afternoon. Kiba was heading out to the forest to walk Akamaru, when a most intriguing scent caught his attention. _What on earth is that?_ he wondered, frozen in his tracks as he tried to catch another whiff. _And where is it coming from?_

Akamaru, sensing that Kiba was distracted, whined. He _really_ wanted to go for a run. But Kiba had been completely sidetracked by the new scent, and Akamaru could already tell that finding the source of it was a higher priority than taking a walk. He huffed as he resigned himself to following his master as he began wandering down the street, sniffing incessantly. The walk would have to wait.

Kiba growled. He had been wandering all over Konoha all day, following that strange, wonderful scent, and he _still_ hadn't found it! Akamaru looked like he was about to give up and just head home without Kiba, and Kiba himself would have given up long ago, except that there was something about this scent, something intriguing, something new, something otherworldly. Anything else, and he would have given up. But he couldn't drop this scent. There was a familiar one layered under it, but the new one was so distracting that he couldn't place it.

Finally, Akamaru made a whuffing noise that was actually quite rude, turned around, and headed for the Inuzuka compound. He had decided that Kiba had lost his mind completely over this new smell, and he was tired of it. "Fine," Kiba yelled after him. "Go back home like a puppy. I'm not giving up on this one!" Akamaru ignored him, though he got some strange looks from passersby.

He was so close. The scent had been getting stronger and stronger, and it was making him dizzy with anticipation. And that other scent, one he knew, the one he couldn't quite place, being so distracted by the new one. What on earth could it be?

He closed his eyes, all the better to focus on the smell. Some might have thought it strange for him to be walking around Konoha with his eyes shut, but he was confident that he wouldn't run into anything.

Stronger, stronger, and suddenly –

Kiba collided with something solid that made a bit of a squeaking sound when he hit it. He didn't even notice, so absorbed he was by that hypnotizing scent that had led him on a wild goose chase all around Konoha. Without thinking, he buried his nose in the thing, taking a deep sniff of the wonderful, dizzying smell.

"Ki-Ki-Kiba!"

He opened his eyes. Hinata was standing in front of him, her face redder than it got when she was around Naruto. He then realized that he had his nose buried in the crook of her neck.

He leapt back, his face reddening to match both his tattoos and Hinata's face. _Oops. So that was the other smell. I knew it was familiar!_ He had also been smelling Hinata mixed in with that other scent.

Without thinking he blurted, "What is that _smell_?" It was so strong that even a normal human had to be able to smell it.

Hinata turned redder. "W-what?"

"Can't you smell it?" _Maybe normal people can't smell it_, Kiba thought.

"Oh. Um, w-well, I st-started using a n-new sh-shampoo re-recently," Hinata murmured, staring at the ground.

"Hmm." Impulsively, Kiba leaned forward, stuck his nose in Hinata's hair, and took a giant sniff. If it was even possible, she turned even redder. Kiba started wondering if she was going to have a heart attack.

Yes. That was it. That incredible, wonderful, unbelievable scent that he had tracked all day long was Hinata's shampoo. It was both exhilarating and a little disappointing. After all this work, he had expected it to be some rare species of flower or some kind of expensive perfume. But in the end, it was just shampoo.

Then again, it was _Hinata's_ shampoo. Though Kiba would never admit it, he had a bit of a soft spot for the girl. He loved to be around her, even if it was only to embarrass her, and he made sure to keep an eye on her when they were fighting. If anything happened, he would be at her side in an instant.

He really did like her, the extremely shy, white-eyed Hyuuga heiress. Sometimes, he thought that she really wasn't suited to the shinobi life, but then he would see that spark of determination in her unusual eyes, the way she wouldn't give up, whether it was during training or in the midst of a real battle, and he realized that she was stronger than many others.

But now he was realizing how awkward it was for him to be sniffing her hair and how he had followed her (although, admittedly, he hadn't known it was _her_) all day like some creepy stalker, and his face got even redder. "Well. Erm, sorry about that, I'll be going now." He turned and leapt up onto the nearest roof, preparing to make a mad dash home and then spend all night thinking about that smell.

"Ki-Kiba, wait!" Hinata's voice stopped him short. He turned around, crouching precariously on the roof. "Hn?" Both of their faces were still quite red, though the distance had helped.

Hinata blushed. "Did – did you like it? My shampoo?"

Kiba now thought that both of them might die of heart attacks. "Um, er… well, yeah." Then he turned and bolted, leaving a still-red Hinata standing in the middle of the street, a tiny, secret smile on her face.

Two days later, at Sakura's birthday party, Kiba was talking with Shino and Shikamaru when a familiar scent caught his attention.

"I'm gonna go wander around a little," the dog-boy said to his companions, and he left, leaving them both wondering the real reason for leaving so abruptly.

He searched for a short time before his nose finally led him to the source of the smell. He came up behind her, making her jump when he spoke.

"Hey. I see you're wearing that shampoo again, huh?"

Hinata blushed slightly. "W-well, I thought you l-liked it, Kiba."

He grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "Don't worry," he said as he gave her a one-armed hug. "I do." 

**If you liked it, then yay! I can't promise any time frame for the next one, but hopefully it'll be sometime soon. I still need to decide the order for these things. **

**See you soon! Review, etc! I love you!**

**- Ruyax**


	3. Moon

**Gaak! Look how long I haven't updated! **

… **This is ridiculous. These things are so short; I _have_ to start posting them sooner. Recently I've been battling a minor case of writer's block. Maybe I'll start to fight back and just write some of these. They aren't the best, but they're something.**

… **right?**

**Anyway, here's the next TLT short. I'll shut up now. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Moon

Hinata Hyuuga couldn't sleep. She sat on her bed and stared out at the round, full moon, glowing in the sky like a pale blue pearl. She sighed. She hadn't been getting much sleep lately. It felt like something was watching her from the shadows. She knew there was nothing there, but it scared her anyway.

Suddenly, she heard something. It felt like it was on the edge of her senses, but it piqued her interest. She looked closely at the silhouetted edge of a hill a distance beyond the edge of the village. Most people wouldn't have been able to see anything, but then again, most people didn't have the enhanced vision a Byakugan user had.

She could make out a figure crouching on the hilltop. It looked familiar, but she couldn't quite make it out. A second figure was beside the first, a good bit smaller and clearly not human.

The wind changed and suddenly she could hear the sound. Howling. Not scary, monster howling. A beautiful sound, full of joy and freedom. Hinata suddenly knew who the two figures on the hill were.

Kiba and Akamaru were sitting on a hill, in the middle of the night, howling at the full moon. She nearly burst out laughing. Of all the dog-like things Kiba did, this had to be one of the funniest. She sighed. And one of the most beautiful. She could see him more clearly now, and it was a beautiful sight. He looked more like a wolf-boy than most times she had seen him, crouching beside his puppy, head thrown back, feral eyes closed, howling just like a wolf. Akamaru was in the same position, but his tail was wagging madly. Hinata giggled. If Kiba had a tail, it would probably be doing the same thing.

She suddenly realized she felt tired. It felt as if Kiba was her guardian, however far away he was, and the shadows wouldn't dare try anything with him around. She settled back on the bed and was quickly asleep, sung into restfulness by the soothing, warm howls that floated in through her open window on the soft summer breeze.

Hinata said nothing when she saw Kiba's tired eyes the next day. She was more awake and had more energy that day than she had had in weeks, thanks to the good sleep she'd had the night before. That day, Kiba was the one who was tired, though he wouldn't say why. Hinata smiled secretly to herself during training, thinking of how late he must have stayed up last night. Maybe he couldn't sleep either. _Oh, well,_ she thought as she won against him during a sparring session, something she hadn't done in a long time, and usually couldn't do unless he was going easy on her. _Gives me a chance. Maybe he'll do it again tonight_.

Kurenai stared in surprise at her students. A very lively Hinata had just won against a very sleepy-looking Kiba. That didn't happen every day. _How odd_, she thought. _I wonder what's been going on_. Usually it was the other way around, with Kiba unable to sit still and Hinata having to be convinced to do anything. _Oh, well. Changes things up a bit, I guess_.

**There. Done. **

**Maybe I'll actually get the next one done within a month this time. I sure hope so. These things are so short; I feel like such a slacker for taking a month to finish just one. **

**Maybe some reviews will encourage me? (Fact: fanfic writers live for reviews. I am no exception.)**

**Hope to see you soon(er)!**

**- Ruyax**


	4. Tshirt

**No, I have not abandoned TLT! (I've just been a little preoccupied with my LaviKanda thing). Sooo, here's the next one. This one is weird. Ish. I dunno. **

**But in apology for having (temporarily) ditched TLT, I made this a two-part! (which, admittedly, made it take longer to write, but let's ignore that). **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p><span>T-shirt<span>

_Hot, hot, hot._

Hinata couldn't think anything else. It was so HOT. This was the worst heat wave anyone in Konoha had ever seen. Somehow, Team Kurenai had avoided getting heatstroke so far (she had heard that Lee, her cousin Neji's teammate, had passed out in the middle of training yesterday), but the heat waves were getting to Hinata anyway.

Her teammates weren't doing much better. All three of them usually wore heavy jackets, but Hinata and Kiba had shed theirs long ago. Somehow, Shino was able to keep his on and not die. Yet another thing she just didn't understand about her bug-obsessed teammate.

Even without the jackets, it was still too darn hot. When they took a break, Hinata bolted for the nearest tree and collapsed in the shade (which wasn't any cooler, but was at least out of direct sunlight). She lay spread-eagled on the ground, trying to cool off and failing.

Kiba had a slightly different idea. Usually, under his gray jacket, he wore a protective vest and a mesh shirt under that. The vest had been abandoned with the jacket, and within seconds the shirt joined it. Kiba sighed happily and flopped back on the grass, bare to the waist, having ditched even his headband. Akamaru rolled over beside him, panting madly. His thick white fur was doing him no favors in this heat.

At first, Hinata was too busy trying not to overheat to pay any attention. But as she began to cool (slightly), she couldn't help but notice Kiba. Her fellow genin was well-muscled – all ninjas were – but his natural tendency to run all over everywhere and his habit of getting into fights had just helped him along in that department. His body was already run over with scars– again, a normal thing with ninjas – but he was only thirteen. One scar in particular drew Hinata's eye – the one just below his ribs, a thick white line the length of the breadth of a kunai. She knew that story. The disastrous Sasuke-retrieval mission, Sakon and Ukon, the cell-melding jutsu, Kiba's stabbing himself in an attempt to wound his enemy. It made her cringe just thinking about it. If it hadn't been for Kiba's persistence and a well-timed entrance by the puppet-wielding sand-nin Kankuro, her friend wouldn't be beside her right now.

As Kiba stretched, making a funny, happy noise as a breeze blew over them, his muscles stood out under his golden skin, the scars rippling like water. Hinata suddenly grew very aware that she was _staring at her very shirtless, very male teammate_, turned brilliant red, and moved her gaze to stare very, very hard at her hands. Fortunately, Kiba never noticed a thing.

.

A few days later, when the heat was still just as bad, Kiba shed again, and again all the way. Hinata's reddening and the return of her stammer again went unnoticed by the oblivious dog-boy, but she did notice Shino giving her a funny look.

_Why does it have to be so hot? And why does Kiba have to train shirtless? And why, oh why do I think he's hot? The heat must be getting to me.  
><em>

* * *

><p>It was still hot. The roasting weather had been going on for almost three weeks and Kiba was ready to die. So. So. Hot.<p>

Apparently, Kurenai was worn out too. She was letting them do their training on the river, sparring and trying to keep themselves from falling in at the same time. They had started in pairs, Shino and Hinata working together near one bank, Kiba and Kurenai near the other. Kiba had purposefully fallen in twice already, just in an attempt to cool off.

Then they switched, Shino working with Kurenai and Kiba with Hinata. It went well for a while, until Hinata lost her concentration for a moment and fell in. As Kiba went over to help her up, he wondered if she had done it on purpose too. Her chakra control was better than his, so it seemed unlikely that she would actually lose focus.

He reached down and grabbed Hinata's hands, pulling her up from the water so that she could re-focus her chakra on the water's surface. As she stood, she wobbled a little, trying to regain her footing on the water, and he grabbed her arm to make sure she didn't fall back in.

That was about when he noticed it. She was soaking wet, her shirt was sticking to her skin, and they were very close together. To put it bluntly, boobs.

Now, contrary to popular belief, Inuzukas weren't rampant sex-monsters. They were usually very devoted to a single other, their mate, and anything else was outside the norm. But Kiba was a teenage boy, and his – _erm_ – well-developed female teammate was leaning on him for balance while she re-focused her chakra. Kiba's face reddened, and he prayed that no one would notice, or that if they did, they'd just pass it off as overheating or sunburn.

Fortunately for Kiba, no one paid his awkwardness any mind, even Hinata, who was right next to him. _Thank Kami,_ he though as they resumed their battle, _It's a good thing the Byakugan can't read minds._

.

_Unfortunately, Shino doesn't need a mind-reading jutsu to notice things,_ Kiba thought a few days later, when their team got caught in the long-awaited rain during training. The scenario of Hinata-wet-shirt was repeated, as well as the Kiba-red-face thing, and Shino had stared at him with raised eyebrows until Kiba got to feeling so awkward that he made up the excuse of having left a kunai out on the training ground and went to get it, just to escape the hidden-eyes stare of the bug-user. _Damn Shino and his observation skills. It's not my fault!_

Shino really did notice everything. Half the time, people just tended to forget he was there, and spoke as if he wasn't, but he had also developed the ability to read people, to figure out what was going on, even if it was not spoken of or was well-concealed by the person or people involved. It had helped on missions, but he also tended to use it to learn things about the people around him every day.

And he was learning a lot about his two fellow teammates. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Hinata had started to stammer – something she rarely did around Kiba or Shino any more – when Kiba had removed his shirt on a particularly hot day (in a series of hot days), or that Kiba's face had matched his tattoos when he had helped Hinata out of the water the day they trained on the river.

He saw it all, and to tell the truth, he found it ridiculously amusing. They were just so _awkward!_ It was hilarious, although he didn't show it. He _was_ Shino Aburame, after all, and being amused was just not his thing. At least, not on the surface. But there was a lot to find beneath the surface. For example, the budding romance of Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Hinata.

Now _that_ was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>... yeah. I think the heat fried my brain. At least we have air conditioning this summer! And now I'm in Paris, which is darn cold for July. Especially when I've just started getting used to 100-degree days in NC. <strong>

**Ahaha. This one really was weird. I guess it would be set somewhere in that three-year skip. Yay for young awkward teenagers. What fun. **

**Enjoy summer and stuff! Don't cook your brains! **

**- Ruyax**


	5. Blueberries

**Um. It's been, like, six months since I last posted on this story. I haven't abandoned it. I swear. **

**So… blueberries. Don't give me any nonsense about how they probably don't grow in weird alternate-world Naruto Japan. I don't care. It was on the list of prompts, so I went with it. Just shut up and eat your blueberries (they're surprisingly good right now, for being out-of-season. … *eatingblueberriesinjanuary* …)**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><span>Blueberries<span>

"Hey, Hinata. Do you want to go blueberry picking with me?"

Hinata looked up. "W-what?"

Kiba's face was slightly red. "Do you want to go blueberry picking with me?"

She stared at him for a moment. Then a smile broke out on her face. "S-sure, Kiba. D-do you know w-where we can find any?"

The boy looked surprised for a moment, then sighed with relief. "That's great. Yeah, Akamaru and I found some a few days ago and wanted to go get them before the birds ate them all. And then I thought you might like them too…" he trailed off, his face reddening some more.

Hoping to make the awkwardness go away, Hinata stood up. "Well, I-I don't have anything p-planned tomor-rrow. We could go th-then."

The dog-boy grinned. "That's great! I don't have anything either!" He paused, the redness returning. "So… noon, maybe? At the gates?"

Hinata nodded, feeling her face heat up too. Kiba scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well… um. See you tomorrow!" He turned and practically bolted, Akamaru on his heels.

As she watched Kiba's back disappear in the bustling streets of Konoha, Hinata tried to stop blushing. _What is wrong with you? It's _Kiba._ Calm down._ But for some reason, she couldn't get her heart to stop racing.

It was high noon when the two met at the gates of Konoha and set off for the forest.

Kiba led the way, Akamaru close behind. Hinata followed them. It was a warm day, and Kiba had left his fuzzy gray jacket behind. He wore his customary shorts and a loose black top, and was barefoot. Hinata wore her usual outfit, but within fifteen minutes of walking had shed her jacket, choosing to carry it in her arms rather than feel like she was melting.

The initial awkwardness soon dissolved, and the two genin found themselves talking easily about nothing at all, just like usual. Hinata felt herself relax, heard her stammer fading away to almost nothing, the way it did only when she was around Kiba or Shino. By the time they had reached the blueberry thicket Kiba had found, both were totally relaxed.

They spent hours in the forest. Hinata found some sloe berries, and Kiba discovered a tangle of blackberry bushes (by accident. He fell into them, and had the scratches to show for it. Hinata had had to forcibly pull him out). Akamaru vanished for a while – Kiba said he was chasing rabbits – and returned covered in mud. Kiba and Hinata decided to give the poor puppy a bath, and so spent the next hour or so splashing around in the river (half of the time was spent trying to actually catch Akamaru, who apparently wasn't a fan of baths). By the end, all three of them were soaked, but none of them cared (with the possible exception of Akamaru. He still wasn't pleased with the whole bathing thing). They sat on the riverbank, eating handfuls of berries and other edible forest food – some of which Hinata had never tried before – from their makeshift bag (aka Hinata's jacket). They talked and laughed and only when the sun was setting did they realize how late it was.

There was a rush to gather up their things and go home, and it was very reluctantly that the two parted ways at the village gate, the stars beginning to come out above them.

* * *

><p>Hinata got the scolding of her life. Hiashi was very displeased that his daughter had gone off like that – she could have been kidnapped or killed, did she even think of that! Not to mention the fact that Hiashi did not like Kiba in the least – those Inuzukas live like animals – and how she could have spent her time training or doing something useful – and look at all the scratches she had, and the jacket was completely <em>ruined<em> – but she managed to mostly ignore him. Even her father couldn't ruin the pure joy she had felt that day, doing anything and nothing with one of her two best friends in the whole entire world.

_I wonder when we can go blueberry picking again._

When he got home, Kiba got a cuff on the head and some yelling at from his mother. Tsume didn't especially care that her son had vanished entirely for the better part of the day, but she had to maintain her dominance. She shut up pretty quickly, though, when Kiba showed her the bagful of berries he had saved just for this (he didn't tell her that bit, though).

He was covered in bruises and scratches, a good number of which needed bandaging. But he didn't care at all. He had just spent almost an entire day with Hinata! And aside from the first five or so minutes, it hadn't been awkward at all! What could be better than that?

As he flopped down on his bed, ignoring the berry juice all over him that would probably stain the sheets, he sighed happily.

_I wonder when we can go blueberry picking again._

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><p><strong>Feels darn weird to be writing about summer stuff in January. Ah well. <strong>

… **This one very well may be my favorite so far. **

**Sorry about the long wait. I'll try to keep these coming. Ish. At the very least, I promise not to completely abandon it. **

**Reviews (even though I don't deserve them, lazy writer that I am)?**

**- Ruyax**


	6. Cat

**Welp. It's been a while. Oops. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

><p><span>Cat<span>

Hinata sighed as she watched her teammate lose a wrestling match to his dog. After such a long winter, the warming of the weather had made everybody a little crazy, and Kiba was crazy to begin with so he just got crazier. And now he was wrestling with Akamaru while the rest of the team took a break.

_I just hope he doesn't kick a wasp nest like he did last week._ That had been interesting. Kiba had gotten stung so many times his entire skin was lumpy with welts, and Akamaru's coat had been a very strange texture for a few days. _Next time he does something dumb like that, he can take care of it himself._

At that moment, the two apparently decided that they were done for the moment and were coming over to sit beside Hinata when the cat appeared.

Hinata's first fear was that Akamaru would bolt after the cat and they would have to spend the rest of the day looking for him. Turned out she was wrong.

Both Kiba and Akamaru froze, staring at the cat. The cat stared back. Akamaru whined softly, tucking his tail between his legs, and from the look on Kiba's face, he would be doing the same if he had a tail.

Somewhere nearby, a bird called, and it was like that was some kind of signal. The cat crouched, hissing, and then sprang with claws unsheathed at the two canines (well, canine and canine-human, but whatever).

Hinata almost laughed as she watched Kiba and Akamaru bolt, yelping panickedly, and dash off with the cat right on their heels.

After a moment, though, she realized something. _He's actually scared. Inuzuka Kiba is actually afraid of a stray cat. Terrified, if his expression was anything to go by. _

_Oops._

She sighed. "Kurenai-sensei? I'm going to go save Kiba. We'll be back soon."

Her teacher looked up from sharpening a kunai. "Sure, Hinata. Make sure the kitty-cat doesn't hurt him too badly." She laughed, but not cruelly. It was just way too funny to see big, bold Kiba get his butt kicked by a random cat. Shino didn't say anything, but Hinata could see the tiny curve of his lips that came about as close as Shino came to laughing.

.

_Where could they have gone?_

Almost fifteen minutes later, Hinata had found no trace of dog or dog boy. Or cat.

She sighed. _Oh well._

_Byakugan._

Her white eyes scanned the area, and then she nearly toppled over laughing.

Kiba and Akamaru were both in a tree near the river. It appeared that the cat had chased them up into it and for some reason or other had not followed them. Hinata really wondered how on earth a dog bigger than an average pig had climbed a tree.

She went to the tree, and the cat stared at her, as if to ask, "What?"

Kiba looked immensely relieved to see her. "Hina-chan! Help me!" Akamaru yelped in agreement.

She giggled a little. "Those are my friends, kitty. Leave them alone."

The cat blinked, and then slowly, almost lazily, began climbing the tree.

The next three seconds was a mad scramble in the tree. Both Kiba and Akamaru basically threw themselves out of the tree and into the river with a splash. Hinata had to restrain her laughter again as she watched the cat climb up to the branch the two had been in moments ago and settle itself comfortably on it.

Still shaking with restrained laughter, Hinata went to her friends. She reached a hand out, intending to help Kiba out, but he shook his head, sending little water droplets everywhere. "Nope, no, I'm not getting back out with that demon right there!" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the cat, who yawned at him.

Hinata sighed. "Well, you need to get out somehow. We're going to be late."

Eventually, Kiba accepted getting out of the water, as long as they went a little further downriver to get away from the "demon" first.

It took both of them to get Akamaru up the steep riverbank, but with Kiba pushing and Hinata pulling, they eventually made it out of the water to flop on the ground in a big pile of soggy dog. _I guess it's a good thing I'm in my training clothes,_ Hinata thought as she pushed Akamaru's foot off her face and shoved Kiba's leg off her stomach. _Father would have a fit._

As they walked back to the training grounds, Hinata looked at Kiba. "I didn't know you were scared of cats."

Kiba sighed, kicking a small pebble and then swearing when it turned out that the pebble was not so small after all. "Shut up. I'm not."

Hinata giggled. "Sure. So you just ran off and climbed a tree and jumped into a river for no reason at all."

Kiba growled. "It's not like that. That cat is a monster. It's gone after us before –" Akamaru whined in agreement "– and it's a real demon."

Hinata sighed. "Akamaru is one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen. Can't he just," she waved a hand vaguely, "chase it? Like, bark and stuff and scare it off?"

"Nope," Kiba said. "Tried that. It nearly cut his nose off." Akamaru whined again.

"Look," Hinata said, stopping. "If it's such a monster, I'll protect you."

"What?" Kiba stared at her, puzzled.

"I can chase it off for you. It doesn't seem like such a big scary cat to me. I'll take care of it for you."

"Really?" Akamaru's tail started wagging, beating against Hinata's thigh.

_That cat really must have gone after them for them to be this desperate._ "Yeah, sure! I'll be your brave knight and defend you from that monstrous kitty cat, Kiba-hime!"

Kiba rolled his eyes and punched Hinata in the shoulder, but she blocked it and soon they were wrestling, Akamaru barking excitedly and jumping on them, hindering both.

Finally, they lay side-by-side on the ground, Hinata still laughing.

Kiba huffed. "Ah, shut up. You do the same thing with spiders."

Hinata sat up. "Yeah, but spiders can be venomous. Cats aren't. And besides, that looked like a nice cat."

"Sure." Kiba stood and gave Hinata his hand, pulling her up. "It looks all nice until it goes ballistic and tries to kill you."

"Whatever you say," Hinata said, then added mischievously, "Kiba-hime."

Kiba growled at her, and she took off, laughing, Kiba and Akamaru right behind her.

They were late back for training, and Kurenai made them stay late to finish up. Neither one really cared, though.

And if Hinata had to save Kiba from the cat another time or two, neither one said anything about it.

* * *

><p><strong>Good? Bad (I hope not)? Jellyfish?<strong>

… **I don't know either. **

**This is when they're a bit older and stuff. Hinata can talk to Kurenai and Kiba without stuttering, Akamaru is big, they're all really comfortable around each other, etc, etc. **

**I feel like Hinata's kinda OOC, but at this point I don't really care. It's getting late and I'm tired and I still have stuff to do. So oh well. I guess she's feeling really brave today or something. I dunno. **

**Review? I know I'm a bad person for not updating these things, but I'm just so laaaaaaaazy. I can't help it. **

**Also, if you like Team 8 stuff, I posted another thing on them a while ago and only now thought to mention it here. It's kinda random, but there isn't enough stuff about Team 8 in the world. **

**So. Enjoy. I'm gonna go write some more. **

**- Ruyax**


	7. Watermelon

**Another one. I'm really just doing these at random now. I hope some people still like these. **

I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p><span>Watermelon<span>

The summer festival was in full swing. Kiba was carrying watermelons around the festival to tables where they would be split open and served to festivalgoers. They were heavy, but he didn't particularly care. It was fun to see everyone dressed up and happy, as well as scouting out the best booths and activities for later, when he was done helping out.

Kiba was actually enjoying himself. The watermelons weren't that heavy, and he liked helping out. Besides, a lot of the booths gave him free food and stuff in return for carrying things, which _so_ made it worth it.

He was almost done. Just a few more, and they would let him go to enjoy the festival on his own. Kiba hoped to find some of his friends – Hinata and Shino, or maybe Naruto, even Shikamaru if the lazy boy had bothered to come – and wander until the festival closed, far after sunset.

He was so busy thinking about where he had to make sure to revisit that he didn't see her until she was almost right in front of him. When he finally _did_ see her, his brain mostly decided to stop functioning.

Hyuuga Hinata was walking with Sakura and Ino. She was wearing a beautifully decorated yukata, pale lavender embroidered with large dark purple blossoms scattered across it. Her hair was pinned up and tiny amethysts sparkled from between the strands. Her makeup was subtle but accentuated the gleaming white eyes that so distinguished her clan.

It wasn't the clothes, or the hair, or the makeup that caught Kiba's attention. Not really. It was just something else – the way she walked, like she was floating, or the pure happiness that shone from her face, or the way her eyes glowed like the full moon Kiba loved so much. Hinata was _glowing_, and Kiba's brain ceased functioning the moment he saw her.

That was a bad thing. His hands slipped on the watermelon he was carrying, and before the dog-nin could react, the heavy melon had crashed down, straight onto his right foot.

"_FFFFU –"_

Kiba's brain came back in time to stop him from shouting every vulgar word he knew (which was a darn lot, when you had a mother like Tsume), mostly because of the two little girls staring at him from a few feet away. Instead, he bit most of the way through his lip and sat down hard, clutching his probably-broken foot. _Ow ow owowow godsDAMMIT MY FOOT._

"Kiba-kun? Are you okay?"

He opened one watering eye to see the exact cause of his pain staring at him, her beautiful moon-eyes wide and filled with worry. "What happened?"

He let go of his bitten lip and that probably would hurt a lot more if his foot didn't hurt _so much more_. "Uh… ah. Dropped it. The thing. Watermelon. The damn watermelon. On my foot. Damn. Ow."

Hinata managed to look both sympathetic and like she was trying _really_ hard not to laugh. "Ouch. It looks heavy." Kiba nodded, still trying not to jump around and yell because his foot really really _really _hurt and it was way too distracting to think about other stuff like words. What was words how was talking ow damn foot damn foot damn _watermelon_ gods dammit _ow._

"Hang on." Hinata turned around and left, leaving Kiba still sitting on the ground, silently cursing his heartless teammate. The two little girls were still staring at him. Heartless. Everyone was heartless. Everyone here was cruel, uncaring, heartless – oh. Hinata was back. Sakura was behind her, looking very pretty in a grass-green yukata (although Hinata was prettier), and also looking like she was trying not to laugh. Ino, behind her, didn't hold back. The blonde was cackling like a witch at his pain. Okay, _there_ was a heartless one.

"… and I think he might have broken his foot."

Kiba looked up as Sakura crouched down beside him, Hinata on the other. Ino just kept laughing, and hadn't budged from her spot. The little girls were now staring at her.

"Really, Kiba? You broke your foot with a _watermelon?_" Sakura sighed. "You're dumber than Naruto sometimes."

"It's not my damn fault! The freaking thing slipped and landed on my freaking foot! How –" he broke off with a growl as Sakura poked his foot lightly. "Well, it's definitely broken, but it's not bad. I can fix it here." Light began to glow beneath the kunoichi's hands and Kiba sighed in relief as the pain began to fade.

.

Hinata had barely been able to stop laughing ever since Sakura healed Kiba's foot a few hours ago. As they sat down to eat from the boxes they had gotten from one of the food vendors (one that Kiba had spotted earlier when he was working), Hinata giggled again and Kiba flopped on the ground in despair. "I'm doomed. Ino's probably told everyone by now. Defeated by a freaking watermelon. I'll be the laughingstock of the class!"

Hinata laughed. "It will be fine. You can just ignore them, and anyway, you know plenty of embarrassing stories about everyone else, too. Besides," she added with a wicked grin, drawing out a package from her pocket, "I like watermelon."

Kiba buried his face in his hands. "Dammit. I'll never be able to eat watermelon again!"

* * *

><p>… <strong>Now I want some watermelon. <strong>

**- Ruyax**


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